About Entropia Universe

Current Version
Planet Cyrene Soft Launch

Entropia Universe is a MMOG/Virtual World consisting of the Entropia platform developed and operated by Swedish Company Mindark PE AB and several 'game worlds' called Planets that are authored and run by so called "Planet Partners".
Currently there are the two active planets Calypso and ROCKtropia, another one -Next Island- is planned for launch in Summer 2010 . Planet Cyrene is expected to be released before the end of the 2010 and another 1-3 planets are in development.
In April 2009 Entropia Universe had 820,000 registered accounts and Planet Calypso alone had an economic turnover of $422M USD in 2009.
Entropia Universe has hit the news several times due to sales of virtual objects for large sums such 100,000 USD for the Asteroid Space Resort known as Club NEVERDIE or 330,000 USD for Crystal Palace Space Station. Those figures are possible because Entropia Universe is based on a Real Cash Economy.

Key Figures

• Turnover

Number of players

• Registered accounts
  In late 2010/early 2011 the number of registered accounts must have exceeded 1 Million
• Active players
  there are highly speculative assumptions about the number of players, for example:
  • Average number of depositing players per month: 35650
  • Average number of players online at any given time: 1150

Virtual item sales

Top 10 of prices paid for virtual items or estates:

1. 635,000 for Club NEVERDIE (Asteroid Space Resort), NEVERDIE selling it to various other Entropia Universe participants.
2. 330,000 USD for Crystal Palace Space Station by "Buzz Eric Lightyear" (Erik Novak) on December 28, 2009.
3. 100,000 USD for the Asteroid Space Resort Club NEVERDIE by "Jon NEVERDIE Jacobs" on Oct 24, 2005 (to do: references)
4. 99,900.10 USD for a bank / banking license by "Yuri iNTellect Efremov" representing the Russian Internet Payment Provider Moneta.ru on May 08, 2007
5. 95,000.20 USD for a bank / banking license by "Jolana Kitty Brice" on May 08, 2007
6. 90,000 USD for a bank / banking license by "Jon NEVERDIE Jacobs" on May 08, 2007
7. 74,600.70 USD for Emerald Lakes Shopping Mall by "Onkel RobRoy Bob" on Dec 29, 2006
8. 70,067 USD for Port Atlantis Shopping Mall by "Epsilon Eps Vaz" on Dec 29, 2006
9. 69,696.9 USD for Unique Green Atrox Queen Egg by "Zachurm Deathifier Emergen" (David Storey) who bought it from "Jon NEVERDIE Jacobs" on Febuary 01, 2010, making it the most expensive portable virtual object.(to do: exact date)
10. 60,0000 USD for a bank / banking license by "Baroness Anshe Chung" on May 08, 2007

(Extrapolation of the list of most expensive items.)

Real Cash Economy (RCE)

Entropia Universe' rather unique and basic feature is the "Real Cash Economy". The in-game currency "Project Entropia Dollars" (PED) has a fixed exchange rate of 10:1 with the US Dollar. Consequently every item, service or activity in the game has a value linked to the 'real world'.

(to do: EULA/ToU on virtual property)

Depositing

Money can be transfered into the game by the following methods:

• bank transfer
• credit card/debit card (Visa or MasterCard)
• Paynova
• Paysafecard
• PayByCash
• wikipedia:Ukash
• PED Certificate, issued by Mindark and often given away for promotion

• 

  PED Certificate holder front and back cover

• 

  PED Certificate holder inside

Further info on the Depositing page.

Withdrawing

It is also possible to withdraw money from the game. When withdrawing money the in-game PED are transfered to a regular bank account.

(to do: withdrawing minimum, fees)

Spending PED

(to do: Items, Ammo, Decay, Usage of Materials, Fees)

Earning PED

(to do: Sweating, Fruits & Stones, Missions, Oil rig, ...)

(to do: Trading, Piloting, Estates, ...)

(to do: Playing for profit, HOF's, ATH's, ...)

Entropia Universe Platform

One World

"Unlike many other 3D virtual environments, Entropia Universe is not based on shards. This means that instead of duplicating content on servers, rather it is designed as one continuous world". "To achieve this hundreds of servers are connected to create open landscapes with seamless transitions and on-demand streaming."

CryEngine 2

• before/after images
• VU10

• CryEngine2 website
• CryEngine2 specifications
• CryEngine2 Features (PDF)

Gameplay

• General
• Avatar Management (creation, beauty, makeup, clothes,...)
• Sweating
• Hunting
  • PVP
• Mining
• Crafting
• Missions

Entropia Universe features a mission system. So far there are 80+ Missions. Some of those missions can be completed without using any PEDs or Equipment.

• Socializing
• ...

Tech Stuff

Systems Requirements:

Very High Settings

Internet Connection: ADSL or better Operating System: Windows XP, Windows Vista or Windows 7 Computer Processor: Intel I7 / AMD Phenom II Computer Memory: 4096 MB RAM or more Graphics Card (with latest drivers): NVIDIA GeForce 285 / ATI Radeon 4870 or better DirectX: Version 9.0c or later Sound Device: Direct X compatible sound device Screen Resolution: 1024 x 768 pixels Hard Drive Space: 10 GB of free space

High Settings

Internet Connection: ADSL or better Operating System: Windows XP, Windows Vista or Windows 7 Computer Processor: Intel Core duo or AMD Athlon 64 X2 Series or better Computer Memory: 2048 MB RAM or more Graphics Card (with latest drivers): NVIDIA GeForce 8800 Series or better / ATI Radeon 2900 series or better. DirectX: Version 9.0c or later Sound Device: Direct X compatible sound device Screen Resolution: 1024 x 768 pixels Hard Drive Space: 10 GB of free space

Medium Settings

These requirements should be considered the minimum system requirements for Entropia Universe: Internet Connection: ADSL or better Operating System: Windows XP, Windows Vista or Windows 7 Computer Processor: Intel Pentium 4 2.8g hz or AMD Athlon 64 Series or better Computer Memory: 2048 MB RAM or more Graphics Card (with latest drivers): NVIDIA GeForce 7800 Series or better / ATI Radeon 1900 series or better. DirectX: Version 9.0c or later Sound Device: Direct X compatible sound device Screen Resolution: 1024 x 768 pixels Hard Drive Space: 10 GB of free space

Low Settings

If your system falls below the Medium Settings requirement you may still be able to participate in Entropia Universe, but your visual experience will be hampered. If you use Medium Settings on a system below Medium Settings requirements, you may suffer from low frame rate. If you use Low Settings, there may be artifacts such as white texture-less avatars, no ground vegetation, short draw distance and no shadows. Please note that support is not given on technical issues deriving from a computer that only handles the Low Settings.

• ..

Entropia Universe Planets

Planets run by Planet Partners in the Entropia Universe.

Calypso

Planet Calypso is the first planet in the Entropia Universe. It is run by Mindark subsidiary First Planet Company, has been online since 2003, became profitable in 2004 and had an economic turnover of $422M USD in 2009.

Continents Eudoria and Amethera, Asteroid Space Resort Club NEVERDIE, Crystal Palace Space Station

ROCKtropia

ROCKtropia (launched 2010)

Arkadia

Planet Arkadia (launched 2010)

Next Island

Next Island (in development)

Cyrene

Cyrene (in development)

SEE Planet(s)

SEE

Dotman / 2nd Earth / CRD

CRD

CRD is not listed as a planet partner anymore..
Unfortunately the head and promoter of the project at CRD died in June 2008.

Postmoderna

Planet Postmoderna (unofficial planet project)

Entropia Universe Milestones

• Release
• Amethera
• Treasure Island sale (2004)
• Club NEVERDIE sale (2005)
• Shopping Malls sale
• Banking Licences
• FPC spin-off
• CryEngine 2 migration (August 2009)
• entropiaplanets.com ;) (September 2009)
• Crystal Palace sale (December 2009)
• Mission System (2010)
• ROCKtropia (2010)
• Vehicles (2010)

Entropia Universe Media

Entropia Universe articles

^{Press releases, news and magazine articles featuring Entropia Universe}
2007

• March 12, 2007: Virtual worlds, real money on edition.cnn.com

References, Links

• Entropia Universe Glossary